IT sounds like the dramatic plot of one of the gripping plays that young Hampshire actress Jessica Lind could have starred in.

A court heard how she was found dazed and confused in the back of a car in a country lay-by during a major police search after her ex-boyfriend and his pal received chilling text messages claiming to be from kidnappers holding her against her will.

But it turned out that there had been no kidnap plot and Lind’s claims were nothing more than an elaborate web of lies to win back the lover who had spurned her.

As a result of her false claims, an innocent man was arrested and police wasted hundreds of hours of their time and thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money.

The story was revealed at Southampton Crown Court when the 22-year-old Romsey-based actress was sentenced for perverting the course of justice.

Lind, of Ridge Lane, Romsey, admitted the charge.

The court heard how Lind, a Romsey Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (RAODS) member, made up the whole story in September last year soon after breaking up with boyfriend Jonathan Gray.

She had told police that a stalker had approached her in Costa coffee shop in Winchester and again at another coffee shop in Romsey.

Prosecutor Tim Compton told police how Lind described the man as “a bit strange” and seemed to know about her relationship with Mr Gray and discovered a handwritten message on her windscreen saying “he’ll come back don’t you worry” followed by suspicious calls to her mobile.

Mr Gray’s friend Jacob Hughes later contacted police concerned for her welfare after receiving a string of text messages saying: “Let the games begin – find Jess”.

She was found in a lay-by in Liberty Road, Soberton, more than 20 miles from home claiming she was unaware how she got there and that someone hit her over the head before kidnapping her.

She was taken to hospital where doctors confirmed she was not seriously injured.

She repeated her claims a second time in a three-hour police interview.

Officers launched a major investigation climaxing in the arrest of John Hodgson, a man with mental health problems who was held for 15 hours on suspicion of stalking and kidnap before being released.

But Lind later confessed to officers she had driven herself to the lay-by and written the messages.

It was heard how she told police in an interview: “I just want Johnny back in my life and thought he would be able there to look after me because he thought someone was going to hurt me. It got worse and worse and I didn’t know how to end it.”

Mr Compton told the court the police investigation lasted 253 hours, costing £15,000.

In mitigation, the court was told that the break-up caused Lind to suffer from mental health problems including depression, suicidal thoughts and a borderline personality disorder and her father has since died.

Judge Nicolas Rowland sentenced her for the lesser charge of wasting police time following recommendations from another judge. Sentencing her to a four-month prison term suspended for two years and ordering her to do 120 hours of unpaid work he branded it a “sorry tale” and said: “You became extremely depressed and suicidal which led you to behave in a way that was out of character which had consequences not just for you and your boyfriend but the wider public.

“He [Mr Hodgson] was held for 15 hours and his freedom taken away as a result of what you did while 250 hours of police time was wasted when they had better things to do.”

He added: “People who do that expect to go to prison. It’s a close shave for you.”

Lind - who dabbed tears from her eyes with tissues during the hearing - has starred in a number of RAODS plays including an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew where she played Lucentio and Jane in an version of Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre.